When most people go to book a hotel room, there are plenty of websites to help find deals and cheaper rates. But an NBC New York investigation has found that New York City doesn't get those same deals when it books hotel rooms to house thousands of homeless people. 

The I-Team filed a freedom of information request for credit card hotel bookings made by the Department of Homeless Services last year. They then simulated the bookings on websites like Hotels.com, ChoiceHotels, Priceline, and Expedia. In a sample of about 170 bookings, they found cheaper room rates 112 times—or nearly two-thirds of the time. And that extra cost gets passed on to taxpayers.

Chris Glorioso is an investigative reporter for NBC's I-Team. He joins WNYC to explain his findings on the real price of hotel homeless shelters.